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Tommy lays a wreath to remember lost friends

Tommy Jess, second from right, at the recent memorial service. Pic by
Gordon Ridgewell. US1210-

Tommy Jess and his wife at the Lapwing HMS Memorial in Saffron Walden. Pic by
Gordon Ridgewell. US1210-

EVERY March 20th brings vivid memories of lost friends
flooding back to old sailor Tommy Jess. And last weekend was no exception
when he travelled to Saffron Walden, as he does every two years, to mark the
anniversary of the sinking of HMS Lapwing by a German torpedo.

However, this year was particularly poignant for the
local man as the memorial marked the 65th anniversary of the sinking and
Tommy, who listened sadly as the names of all those lost were read out
during the service, laid a wreath on behalf of the three remaining survivors
of the tragedy. He was also very moved recently to receive a letter from the
Embassy of the Russian Federation, who are creating a medal to honour those
from the UK who served on the Russian Convoys during the war. Tommy was
hailed a hero when he returned to Dromore in 1945 after surviving the
torpedo attack, but the 87-year-old can still recall clearly the hours
following the attack and the struggle for survival on a life raft in the icy
sea.

Before the war he worked at Mackey's engineering company
in Belfast and whilst the staff were out on strike one of his colleagues
suggested enlisting as something to do to ease the boredom.

While his friends joined the army and air force, Tommy
was the only one to join the navy for one simple reason - he liked the
uniform!

He left his family behind in 1942 and began his naval
training. He came home to Dromore on leave several times and always found it
hard to go away again.

"Many times I came home and wished I wasn't going back
because I knew what I was going back to," he said.

In 1944 Tommy was on board one of the ships which
escorted the American troops to Omaha Beach for the D-Day invasion. "We saw
a lot of action and a lot of bodies too," Tommy simply said.

After surviving the horrors of the D-Day landings, little
did he know that a greater horror was yet to come.

After D-Day his ship, HMS Lapwing, became part of the
Russian Convoy, escorting ships through the treacherous, submarine-infested
waters off the Russian coast.

The Lapwing left Greenock on its last voyage, into
Russian waters on March 11, 1945 and at 10.58am on March 20 a German
submarine torpedoed the ship, knocking the captain unconscious.

Tommy recalls: "We knew there were submarines in the area
but we didn't think it would happen to us. When the torpedo hit I was blown
about 10 yards down the deck and all I had was skinned knuckles. We got the
order 'every man for himself' and in less than ten minutes there was no ship
left."

Tommy and some of his ship mates managed to climb onto a
life raft. He remembers watching the ship vanish into the icy waters and
feared that they would all be dragged under with it.

"The raft was attached to the ship with a rope. We were
so scared that we would be pulled down. I was the only one with a knife so I
got it out and cut the rope."

Over the next two hours, Tommy drifted in and out of
consciousness. He remembers 16 people on the raft but by the time they were
rescued only six remained. "It was snowing and I remember seeing the rescue
boat coming through the haze but I blacked out just after that and don't
remember being rescued. "Our worst enemy was the weather. Some of the men
had been clinging to a rope on the raft and their hands had frozen around
the rope so they had to break their fingers. It was an awful experience."

The survivors from HMS Lapwing were rescued by HMS
Savage. Once on board the survivors were examined by the ship's doctor, who
said they would only have survived another 20 minutes in the freezing
conditions. In a bid to bring them round they were put under hot showers and
as Tommy recalls: "They poured brandy down our throats."

Before returning home, the six survivors had their
photograph taken, a poignant reminder of the trauma they endured together.
The six then parted company.

Tommy Jess (Back Row, third from right) and the other raft survivors not
long after being picked up off the coast of Murmansk. Back Row (Left to
Right) Stoker Hector Shorthouse, Able Seaman Albert Simpson, Able Seaman
Thomas Jess, 0rdinary Seaman Leonard Vincent. Front Row, left to right,
Petty 0fficer Donald MacKinnon, Engine Room Artificer Stanley Jones.
US07-712SP

Tommy, who is one of just three remaining survivors, has
pledged to continue attending the memorial services, which are held every
two years, as long as he is able.